IFSH Management
Ed Steiner, Director, Facilities
Karolina Piszczor, Safety Officer
Osvaldo Velarde, Director, Information Technology
Darsh Wasan, Ph.D., Founder and Advisor
FDA DFPST Directors, Chiefs and Team Leaders
Lauren Jackson, Ph.D., FDA Team Leader, Food Chemistry and Nutrition Team
Elizabeth Grasso-Kelley, Ph.D., Chief, Food Technology Branch
NCFST Science Platform Coordinators
Microbiology
Nutrition
Processing and Packaging
Food Chemistry
Proficiency Testing and Method Validation
Governance
The Institute for Food Safety and Health (IFSH), a research institute of the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), houses the National Center for Food Safety and Technology (NCFST) and other focused research centers in the areas of food safety, food processing technology, and nutrition and health.
NCFST is structured as a cooperative agreement between the US Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Nutrition (FDA CFSAN) and IIT. Industry companies and organizations are encouraged to become members of IFSH and to participate in the collaborative research program funded through this mechanism. Under the terms of NCFST’s cooperative agreement, governance and policy of the center are determined by an Executive Advisory Board composed of FDA, academic and industry members. A Technical Advisory Committee, composed of representatives from each member company and FDA, reviews research proposals and sets research priorities. Co-located at IFSH and under the cooperative agreement with NCFST, the FDA Division of Food Processing Science and Technology (DFPST) is responsible for managing FDA research programs and policy.
Day-to-day management of the institute is supplied by the IFSH Director. Staffing at IFSH includes scientists from IIT and the FDA Division of Food Processing Science and Technology, co-located at the Bedford Park facility. These researchers are experienced in the disciplines that affect food safety and quality, including food science and technology, food process engineering, biotechnology, analytical chemistry, chemical engineering, packaging, microbiology, and nutrition. In addition, visiting experts from member companies and other universities enrich the pool of available staff.